


Burn Down Hell

by RedThreads



Category: Pitch Black (2000), Riddick (2013), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), The Chronicles of Riddick Series
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Making things right, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Movie(s), Psychic Abilities, References to Abuse, Revenge, Riddick is a badass... and a secret softie, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-18 07:54:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3562064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedThreads/pseuds/RedThreads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of what happens after the end of "Riddick". He's still trying to get to Furya, but he continues to run into bad luck. This particular bad luck happens to be a young woman who has escaped from her abusive, power-hungry husband, and Riddick gets pulled into the mess. This is not going to be a nice story, there is going to be a lot of uncomfortable topics broached, from abuse, rape, and some animals being harmed. Rest assured, I like to punish bad guys, and we all know that Riddick does too. This will end well, but it's going to be a bumpy ride.</p><p>Better Summary: Suri has escaped from her husband, the head of a massive organization involved in underground cage fighting. In the course of her flight, she bumps into Riddick, which results in his capture. Suri sets him free, but on the condition that he help her learn how to survive in a world she was never prepared for. Riddick agrees, but he always has an alternate plan, and things may not go the way Suri hopes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for this chapter: attempted sexual assault, violence, swearing... but expect those two throughout all the chapters. This is Riddick, after all. Please let me know what you think, I love getting feedback!

The first time she laid eyes on him, she was in a dark alley she should have known better than to be in. Still, Suri hadn’t felt she had a choice about where to go. She’d been trying to take a quiet meal in a local bar where the patrons were generally too drunk to notice anything but their compatriots or their drinks. She’d stuffed herself in a corner close to the rear exit, her back to the wall, and her eyes on the entrance as she quickly ate her stew, savoring the warm, spicy flavors. She’d been sopping up the last bits with a slightly less than fresh roll when she saw the three men enter, decked out in Litchfield’s signature blood red.

Suri froze as they scanned the room, but she had hidden herself well enough in the shadows that they just chose an empty table and sat. Maybe they were just here for a meal, and not on her tail. She couldn’t take the chance. She left a small tip, not that she could really afford it, tucked under her bowl for the beleaguered waitress, and picked up her knapsack as quietly as she could before slinking out the back.

She had focused on the Litchfield men so much that she failed to notice the two men who stood up as she did, their eyes following her slender, feminine shape and bulging knapsack. Suri also missed the shine of the eyes from the opposite corner that followed her exit and two men not too far behind her.

Suri knew she had fucked up when she heard the boot steps in the dirt behind her. Thick, hairy arms wrapped around her, trapping her against a sweaty chest. “Where do you think you’re going, girly?” a whiskey soaked voice whispered in her ear, the sour breath stirring the short strands of hair on her neck. “I wanted to get to know you a little better,” the not quite drunk enough voice continued, intent clear in his tone and hold.

Suri cursed her lack of caution as she silently waited for the inevitable. One of the man’s big meaty hands shifted upwards to clamp painfully over her right breast. Suri drew in a breath and dropped her knees as she grabbed the man’s hand and threw him over her hip. He landed on his back with a gasp, the air knocked out of him, momentarily paralyzed. Suri took advantage of that and whipped the knife she had in her waistband out and down toward his throat. There would have been a time that Suri would have blanched at the thought of taking another’s life, but not anymore. The past few years had taught her that some people needed to die and she might have to be the one to do it.

Just as she was about to sink her blade into her attacker’s soft, fleshy throat, Suri’s head was yanked back and she was dragged away. A short scream escaped before she could stop herself and then a knife was at her throat. “Fuckin’ bitch, what do you think you’re trying?” a second man snarled, holding her to the ground by her hair and the knife at her throat.

The man holding her was skinnier than the beast of a man who had grabbed her, but he looked less inebriated and his rat-like face was tight with anger. That anger turned quickly to hunger as he took in the creamy swells of her breasts that rose and fell with each breath she took. The scoop neck of her grey tank top had been acceptable when she was standing, but he was getting a quite a view now. The man she had flipped got to his feet and coughed as he stumbled forward. “We should just kill her, Janner,” he growled.

Suri kicked out a leg and swept his feet out from under him, sending him to the ground again. The man holding her yanked her head up and then down violently into the ground, and for a moment she saw nothing but stars. When she came back, the man was dragging the knife down her chest, the fabric of her tank starting to tear at the pressure from the blade as little beads of blood welled up from the shallow slice of the knife down her chest.

“You and me are going to have some fun, sweetheart,” Janner said, licking his thin lips. Suri tried to kick up towards him, to roll into his hold and break it, but he increased the pressure of the knife, cutting more deeply into her flesh and staying her. “Un uh,” he said, giggling a little, “That’s not how I want to play.”

Suri kept herself tensed, ready to move at the slightest hint of a chance. It was then she heard the deep rumble over the giggles of her attacker. “I don’t think she wants to play with you,” the dark vibration of sound said, coming from a tall shadow of a man Suri could just barely see as he leaned nonchalantly against a wall of the alley a few feet from the three of them.

Suri could feel the shock ripple through Janner as he realized they weren’t alone. “Back off, ya dumb fuck, we’re busy here,” Janner snarled, turning so his back wasn’t fully to the newcomer, but keeping the blade on Suri.

The man pushed off from the wall and Suri saw that he was huge, tall and heavily muscled like some jungle cat. He moved like one too, stalking forward just slightly. “She doesn’t look like she’s having fun,” the man said, his voice barely more than a growl. Suri had to hold in a gasp when the man’s eyes shone like a predator’s, two quick flashes of iridescence in the near dark of the alley.

Janner apparently didn’t realize the danger, as he spat at the man. “What’s it to you? Just get out of here, big man,” he said and went to lunge at the newcomer. There was a burst of movement and metal, then Janner fell, gurgling on his own blood through a slit throat. Slowly, confidently, the man knelt down and wiped his wickedly curved blade dispassionately on Janner’s shirt.

Suri rolled over and was pushing herself up when the first man wrapped his meaty arm around her again, lifting her off her feet this time. “You, you get out of here or I’ll slit her throat, R-r-riddick. I know who y-you are” the quickly sobering up man stammered.

The newcomer shrugged, a ripple of his muscular shoulders bared by a black tank that was tight to his body, the blade held loosely in one hand. “Doesn’t mean much to me,” that dark rumble stated, but he started forward once more.

Suri couldn’t help a squeak at the man squeezed her tighter. Her gloved hands were free and as quickly as she could, she slid the second flat blade she had hidden out from the sheath on her waist and flipped it, before swiftly jerking upwards. Hot blood sprayed on her as the man’s wide stomach split open and she fell to her knees as the man’s arms loosened. She tried to scramble out of the way, but his body fell on her, jerking a bit as he died.

Sick panic ate at Suri and she tried to get out from his heavy weight. She could _feel_ this Riddick coming closer and knew her panic was well placed. She knew that name, her husband Lucien Litchfield wanted this escaped convict, this murderer, locked in one of his very lucrative cages. No one good or kind went in those cages.

The heavy weight was suddenly gone and Suri was left on her hands and knees in the dirt, covered in blood. She stared up through the fringe of her platinum and lilac streaked bangs that had fallen forward to see Riddick dusting his hands off after tossing the dead man aside. “Nicely done,” he said as he held out a hand to her.

Cautiously, Suri placed her gloved hand in his bare one. Immediately, she was hauled to her feet and backed into the wall that was a few feet behind them. Riddick’s hard body wasn’t touching hers, but she could feel the heat radiating off of him. He was so _big_. At 5’8” she wasn’t used to feeling dwarfed by men, but he stood at least eight inches above her and his heavily muscled form outweighed her toned 140 by least 90 pounds. In one swift move, he ducked his head and took in a long sniff across her shoulder and up her throat.

“Mmmm, lavender, and blood. That’s a beautiful combination on you,” Riddick rumbled, the low tones reverberating through her whole body, making her shiver. In another sudden move, Riddick stepped back, giving Suri plenty of space. She felt out of breath, shaky, but she didn’t run and she didn’t take her blade to him. “Want some advice if you’re gonna live?” he asked as he stooped and picked up her other knife without taking his shining eyes off of her.

Suri nodded and took the knife when he offered it to her.

“Always assume there are two or more. Assholes like this tend to travel in packs. And while that flip was good, you’re going to have to be faster.”

“Thanks,” Suri murmured, unsure of what was happening here. She felt on edge, but not threatened. It was a strange feeling, especially when facing someone with a reputation like Riddick’s.

“Oh, and you’re probably going to want to run now if you plan to avoid those guys who walked in right before you slid out. No way someone didn’t hear that noise or one of these bastards didn’t have a panic button on them. More are coming.” He grinned, a disconcerting flash of white against his shadowed face. “So scat,” he said and pointed a muscular arm, bare except for a leather sheath, down the alley opening she’d been heading for before she’d been stopped.

After the briefest hesitation, Suri sheathed her knives and grabbed her knapsack before she turned and ran. She took one glance back and saw Riddick silhouetted, body turned and braced, blade in each hand. It looked like he was guarding her exit. _Impossible…_ she looked forward and continued her trek back to the little room she had rented for the night, trying to keep to the shadows as much as possible.

~*~

Suri stepped out of the shower that had felt too brief, but deliciously hot, relieved to be clean of sweat, dirt, and blood. She had truly started to appreciate those luxuries since being on the run. She wasn’t always able to grab a real shower or have a bed. Life with Lucien had been a literal Hell, but at least she had nearly unrestricted access to amenities like showers. Well, except for that one time, when he had… Suri stopped that memory before it consumed her.

She hung the tiny towel on the hook and stood for a minute, naked, enjoying the cool air of the room’s air conditioning on her still steaming body. It had been so long since she had found a place that had a shower, air, AND a bed that wasn’t infected with bugs. It was a serious disappointment that she would have to leave. She’d only been here for a week and Litchfield’s men had already tracked her. There was no possibility of her staying now. She’d find a ship in the morning and get out of here as quickly as she could.

Unselfconsciously, she cut across the room to the bed where her knapsack was and pulled out a small bottle of her lavender lotion. It was a silly thing to take up space in her bag, but it was the only thing that had followed her from her childhood to now. Her mother had favored the scented lotion, according to her father, and it had become her favorite as well. Suri smoothed it over the pale golden skin of her lean legs, past the shaded black and white tattoo of a lotus that rode just above the apex of her thighs, up her flat stomach, and the curves of her breasts. When she reached her throat, she felt her heartbeat quicken as she thought of how close Riddick had been to her, and a jolt went through her, tightening her nipples and pooling warmth in her lower stomach.

Suddenly very conscious of her own nudity, Suri quickly finished applying lotion and put on her ever present gloves, made from a black material that looked like leather, yet wicked away sweat and kept her hands cool and dry. Then came her bikini underwear, another military style tank top in grey, and a pair of black cargo trousers that hugged her hips and had plenty of pockets for her knives, and other nasty little tricks she had picked up since running. The outfit was a far cry from the silks and other expensive fabrics she’d worn in the latest fashions when she’d been on Lucien’s arm, but Suri was starting to think this suited her better.

Suri went back to the tiny bathroom and wrung out the tank, trousers, and underwear she’d been in before, hanging them to dry over the shower rod. She’d gotten most of the blood out and while her tank had a small tear, it wasn’t enough to have her throw it out and waste money on new clothing. She needed every coin she had.

The mirror had unfogged from her shower enough that she was able to run her fingers through her hair to get in some order. Once, her platinum locks, shot through with intermittent streaks of pale lilac, had been long enough to reach the curve at the middle of her back. The heavy hair had required nearly half an hour of blow drying and a lot of product to keep it in the coiffed styles Lucien had preferred. She had taken a knife to it the moment she had escaped, burning the long locks so there was no trace of them to be found. Now her hair barely reached the nape of her neck in the back and in the front she had a few strands that just touched the hollows of her throat above her collarbones. She liked the choppiness of it, thought it suited her just as well as her new utilitarian clothing, so she had never bothered to even it out. She still had a side sweep of bangs that fell forward every once in awhile, covering her eyes, but she thought that might be to her advantage. Her steel grey eyes were rimmed in a frosty blue that was very memorable and while blonde and purple hair might be recognizable as well, as least other women dyed their hair a variety of colors as well. Besides, she had tried dying her hair before and nothing stuck. While others might try for what was to them unnatural color, Suri couldn’t get rid of hers. She’d been born with it and much like her eyes, it was her legacy from her mother. That and several other things she couldn’t seem to get rid of.

Suri turned away from the mirror and checked the locks on the bedroom door, the small window she would only barely fit through in a pinch, and then flopped on the bed. She kept one knife in the sheath on the waistband of her trousers, and put another under the thin pillow. There was one more scan of the room and then she shut the light off, preparing to sleep.

Just as she sank into the often troubled abscess of sleep, she had an image of Riddick standing between the the exit of the bar and her, blocking anyone who would have been coming after her. _He’d already saved her once, had he really been protecting her further?_ That was her last thought before exhaustion took her.

~*~

Suri handed over a larger portion of her coin than she had hoped to part with to the captain of the large transport ship. It was a lot, but it kept her name unnecessary and the report of her off the passenger manifesto. Just as she was finishing up with the captain, a crewman burst in the room, so excited he didn’t even notice her.

“Captain, Captain! You’ll never guess who just booked the rest of our slots! Some of the Litchfield agents were on planet and they caught Riddick!” The man was so excited he was jumping from space boot to space boot.

Suri contained a gasp and worked to fade into the background, a trait she had honed living with the insanity of Lucien Litchfield. It appeared to work as the captain swung to face the crewman fully, both ignoring her. “Riddick? The killer? That psycho? How did they capture him? And why the hell are we letting them rent space on my ship?” The captain sounded panicked at the idea of the captured man on his ship.

“I guess they were looking for someone else entirely, but came across him. He killed one of their guys and they tased him. Put him down good, I guess. They have him locked up like an animal, Cap. Claim he’s already in cryo-sleep. Must be, I didn’t see him move at all.” The crewman sounded in awe.

Suri took that opportunity to slide unnoticed out of the room. She hurried to the cargo section of the ship, where she planned to stay for the relatively short planet hop the transport ship had planned before it would be making a longer journey to one of the main planets. She felt like she had been the one who had been tased… Riddick captured by Litchfield and now both were on this ship with her. Gods, she wished that conversation had happened before she had handed over so much coin. She couldn’t afford to get off this damn ship now, but she sure as hell couldn’t stay.

 _Had Riddick been caught because of her?_ That thought came unbidden and added a layer of guilt to her shock. She couldn’t help but think of that last sight she had of the famous killer, standing with knives ready at the entrance of the alley while she ran. Had those agents in the bar heard the commotion and been the ones to bring the big man down?

Suri heard someone coming and ducked down between two huge, secured crates. Her stomach dropped when she saw it was a crew of five men in Litchfield’s blood red. Between them they hauled a stretcher where Riddick lay, his ankles in restraints, arms pinned to his sides, wrists cuffed, and a bit in his mouth. She couldn’t tell if he was awake as he had blacked out goggles on. The only indication he was still alive was the rhythmic rise and fall of his powerful chest.

She watched as the team hauled the stretcher between two support posts and pushed a button to elevate it so the restrained man was upright. Working as efficiently as a well oiled machine, they strung him up like a slaughtered buck. They released one restraint at a time, hooking him to heavy chains they set around the support posts. By the time the team was done, his feet were on the ground in a more natural stance, but each foot was chained to a post. His arms were stretched out in a straight line, the strain keeping him upright. They had also left the bit in his mouth, which had to be extremely painful. His head was down, so maybe he really was in cryo like the crewman had said.

One of the team stepped back and Suri could just barely hear him say to the others, “This isn’t going to work, it’s a week before we reach the first stop and a month after that. As much as I’d like to, we can’t leave him hanging like this. He’ll be useless by the time we get him to cages.” The men conferred amongst themselves and finally one of them hauled a small crate over between the posts and secured it to the ground. They then adjusted Riddick’s restraints so he’d be able to sit on the crate and his arms were given enough slack that he’d be able to move them just slightly if he woke up.

Apparently, these small concessions pissed off one of the team members, as he ripped Riddick’s goggles off and threw them behind the bound man before he slammed his fist in Riddick’s stomach. The blow sent the chained man back so the crate hit his knees and he ended up sitting. The team laughed, clapped the man on the shoulder and together they moved off to the passenger section of the ship.

Suri let out a breath as the team left without finding her. She debated what she could do to help Riddick, but she didn’t even know if he was awake. He didn’t seem to be. Despite the odd sense of guilt she had over his capture, there was no point in trying to help him now.

Just as Suri decided she’d wait until they had taken off before she did anything for Riddick, his head slowly lifted and turned towards where she was hiding. Suri went still, holding even her breath as those predator’s eyes focused in on her, almost as if he could see her through shadows of the crates. Then he blinked a few times, as if the light was hurting him, and hung his head again. Suri very quietly slid out from the crates and went to find a safe place to store herself during the rockiness of take-off, which was quickly approaching. Suri found a storage closet that had just enough room for her to strap herself in and settled in to wait for the transport ship to settle into the auto-flight when everyone else would be in cryo-sleep. Then it would be safe enough to go for Riddick. Suri huffed out a laugh at that thought. As if anything involving the man known as Big Evil would ever be safe.


	2. Chapter 2

Six hours later, Suri released the straps and she fell to her knees as she tried to quell the space sickness. It didn’t matter how many times she flew, she still got sick. She had managed to avoid throwing up this time, but now that the straps weren’t holding her up, she had to steady to her stomach again.

Gagging, Suri made it to her feet and pushed the button to open the door. She kept herself from stumbling out in the walkway, and poked her head out to make sure it was safe. The lights were dimmed, and the blue All Clear light was gently pulsing, signifying that everyone on the list was asleep and the ship was safely on course.

Suri moved into the walkway and moved swiftly back to cargo area. The captain had let her know that there were extra food supplies in one of the first crates for situations just like hers, which told her that her situation wouldn't stick out in his mind as too out of the ordinary. She loaded up on a protein waffle and downed a pack of water and electrolytes mixed with a little flavoring. Synthetic kiwi always made her cringe, but at least the metallic taste from nearly throwing up was out of her mouth.

She grabbed a few more protein waffles and a couple of the water packs before she cautiously made her way back to where she knew Riddick was. He still sitting on the crate, arms stretched out and chained. Suri took the opportunity to study this man she was about to get close to, although all the stories said she’d be dead in seconds if she did.

This was a man who gave others nightmares, whose name was whispered, even in the dark and dangerous places. She could see why, she’d already felt the power of his iridescent gaze, and even chained, a bit in his mouth, dressed in nothing more than a black tank that strained over his powerful chest and black military style trousers tucked into sturdy dark boots, stripped of all of his weapons, he looked dangerous. He didn’t need a uniform, armor, or weapon to look frightening. Strong. Capable of anything. Once again, he looked as if he was out cold, but Suri remembered how he had swung his close shaved head toward her when she'd been here before. He knew exactly what was happening. He was not to be underestimated.

“Riddick?” she called softly. Nothing. Suri moved a little closer and called out again. “Riddick? Are you okay?”

At that, Riddick lifted his head and stared into her eyes, one eyebrow lifted in clear derision at her question. He couldn't say anything due to the bit in his mouth, but his eyes said it all. She was fucking stupid for asking if he was okay while he hung in chains.

Suri shrugged. “Alright, you have a point that was a dumb question. I brought you some food and water, but we have to get that medieval bit off of you first.” His eyes dared her to get that close to him, but Suri ignored that, setting the waffles and packs she had brought with her aside, and moved behind him. He tensed noticeably when she got behind him, his hands fisting in the restraints and the muscles in his back revealed by the black tank he was wearing shifted as if in preparation of attack.

Suri decided she'd ignore that and get as close as she needed to see what kind of lock was holding the bit in his mouth. She got up on the crate behind Riddick and he tensed even further, as if waiting for the knife to slide in. Without realizing it, Suri started to make soothing sounds like she had with the guard dogs on her husband's property when they got anxious or trapped. “Shh, shh, it's okay, I'm just looking,” she murmured in a low, sing-song tone without realizing it, and brought her hands up to his head where the metal bit was locked tight against his skull, cutting into his flesh. Luckily, it was quick release lock and with two turns, Suri had the bit released and he spit it out. It fell with a clang to the floor and they both paused, waiting for someone to come running.

The blue All Clear light kept blinking and there was no other sound. Suri relaxed and looked down to see the clear indent of the metal bit left behind in the flesh of Riddick's skull. Still making those soothing sounds, Suri started rubbing where the indents were with her fingers, massaging his skull. The heat from his head felt good against her gloved hands and it snapped her back to reality. This wasn't some injured guard dog, this was a human killer, someone who was so frightening everyone wanted him in chains. Just as she was about to pull her hands away, Riddick leaned back into her hands as a low, rumbling groan echoed through the cargo hold. She couldn't deny him a few more minutes of head massage, rubbing at the cruel indents left behind by the bit jammed in his mouth by the men hired by her husband. Men probably sent to haul her back to Hell. Guilt sat heavy in her chest and helped her ignore just how good he felt beneath her hands as he leaned back into her.

After a few more minutes, she withdrew her hands and all the relaxation she hadn't realized he'd had rushed away as he tensed up again. Suri got off the crate and looked around until she found his goggles, lodged between two crates behind the two of them. She snagged them as she moved in front of him once more.

The moment she got within peripheral view, his eyes were on her, burning in the near darkness. “What are you doing here, Killer?” he asked, that deep voice almost shocking in the quiet of the cargo hold.

“I was trying to get away from those guys who brought you in,” she said, dark humor evident in her tone. “Clearly, I did a wonderful job, booking a trip on the same damn rig they signed up on.” Riddick just stared at her and she could see a hint of blood at the corners of his mouth. “Did… did they catch you after you helped me?” she asked, not sure she wanted the answer.

Riddick nodded and Suri had to work to keep her shoulders from slumping. “Well, then isn’t good that I’m here to help you now,” she said with false bravado.

Riddick just stared at her, distrust evident in his expression and tensed body. A head massage and released bit wasn’t enough to make him trust some blonde who showed up right before and after he got in trouble. It was a little too convenient for his taste.

His steady stare ate at Suri and she turned, reaching for the water pack. As soon as her back was turned, he lunged forward as far as the restraints would allow. Suri whipped back around, water pack clenched in her hand to find Riddick just centimeters from her face, arms stretched tight behind him as he got as close to her as he could. “What. Do. You. Want?” he growled, each word accented, his breath warm on her face.

Suri held up the water pack. “I brought you some water. Well, water with electrolytes and some gross kiwi flavor. Do you want it?” She kept his gaze and felt as if she was staring down a jaguar in a cage that only barely restrained him.

He finally nodded and she ripped the pack open enough that the liquid would flow. Riddick opened his mouth and Suri held the pack steady while he drank. There was something oddly intimate about her holding the pack while he swallowed the lukewarm liquid, his shining eyes on hers the entire time. He drained the pack and Suri broke his gaze to pick up a protein waffle and another water pack, grateful for the distraction. “Which do you want next?” she asked, brightly, trying to ignore the energy that was swirling around them.

“Release me and I’ll show you what I really want,” Riddick growled, intent clear in his tone and gaze.

Suri swallowed hard. “That’s not on the menu. Your choices are protein waffle and shitty kiwi water. That’s it.”

“Pity.” Riddick held her gaze a moment more and then dropped his head and rubbed his face against his shoulder as the bright blue light continued to flash. “You find my goggles?” he finally asked and Suri got the sense that asking for anything was a huge concession for him. Quickly, she put the food down and pulled the goggles from her pocket where she had stored them without thinking.

He was still so close to her that she barely moved at all as she gently placed them around his head. He moved back and with a few efficient rubs of his head against his shoulder the goggles were over his eyes again. As soon as they were in place, he moved his head back so she felt his eyes on her again, although they were hidden behind the dark lenses of his goggles. “I’ll take that waffle now, if the menu hasn’t changed,” he said.

Suri held the waffle up to his lips and once again, a strange, hot intimacy surrounded them as he bit, chewed, swallowed, and bit again, each bite getting closer to her gloved fingers as he kept her gaze through the goggles. _What am I getting myself into?_ she found herself thinking.

Riddick wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but he wasn’t going to complain about getting the goddamn bit out of his mouth. Or about the feel of her soft, sweet hands on his head. Or getting food and water instead of a week of mind numbing, insanity creating hunger waiting for the fuckers who caught him to wake up and remember he needed to be fed to be kept alive. He also wasn’t going to complain about getting to see the woman he had helped the other night again.

He was suspicious as fuck to see her again after getting caught so soon after helping her, but he wasn’t one to deny himself visual pleasures and she certainly was one. While the clothes she wore did nothing to draw attention to her, the body under them certainly drew his attention. She had a rocking body, from her toned stomach, tight, round ass, to those firm, round breasts he’d nearly gotten to see the other night, although not the way he normally liked to. He wanted to fill his hands with those pretty tits and hear her moan as he sucked and nipped at her, not watch another man take a shiv to her.

He finished the waffle and gave a quick nip at her fingers before she dropped her hand. She jumped back slightly, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach and the warmth that had shot from her fingers to her core at the light pressure of his teeth. _Had he meant to do that?_ She fiddled with the second water pack, trying to give herself a moment before she got that close to the chained man again.

Riddick had to admit, she was more than just a nice body, Killer here was a looker too. Her slightly pointed chin and high cheekbones gave her a nearly cat-like look that was not classically beautiful but one that drew his eye. Her slim nose looked like it had been broken once, but it gave her a gamine air in line with her feline face, as did the thin, ring of silver metal that lay flat against her right nostril.. Her slightly bottom heavy, bow-shaped lips would drive a saint to lust and he was no saint. Then there were her eyes, gorgeous, almond shaped eyes that had drawn him in from across a crowded tavern, with that strange ice blue edging her stormy grey irises. Now that his goggles were on again, the special lenses made him able to see in near normal vision and he liked seeing her eyes. He could also see that he’d been right before and her short hair was a pale, pale blonde streaked with lilac. Piercings and streaked hair made for a strange combination for someone who was clearly hiding. He wanted to know this one’s story. It wasn’t often he found someone who intrigued him, and she’d managed to catch his attention.  But more, he wanted to get loose and he had a feeling she was his key to that.

“What’s your name?” he asked, and that dark, low voice surprised her, making her fumble just slightly with the water pack as she turned back to him. Riddick couldn’t help a small smirk at her surprise.

“Suri,” she answered softly, “Suri Vashta. Do you want the water?”

“Suri,” he said, drawing her name out like it was something to savor. “Niiiice. Yeah, I want the water.” Silent now, she held the water pack up to his lips. He bit down, taking the pack from her hands and tilted his head up, draining the water and electrolytes quickly as he stood straight, relaxing his arms slightly and towering over her again. He spit the pack to the side as he finished and just stood there, arms still stretched out like some obscene living crucifix, and stared down at her. “Now what?” he growled. As much as he hated to admit it, the next move was going to have to be hers.

Now that the moment had come, Suri wanted to shake. She’d only had a few hours with this plan and she was nervous. She would be royally fucked if she’d misread this guy, but maybe, just maybe, they could help each other. She took a deep breath and started. “Here’s the deal, I need to get away from Litchfield and so do you. Now that they’ve had you in their grasp, they’ll never give up on having you in their cages, fighting for their private parties. Trust me, I know.”

Rididck tilted his head. “I’ve gotten out of worse. Why should I help you?”

Well, this wasn’t going as she had hoped. “You need help to get out of those chains and if you don’t get out, I can guarantee you haven’t seen anything like Litchfield’s cages. Lucien is a sick genius and improved on the mechanics of the darkest slams in the universe.”

Riddick grunted, clearly not impressed. “What do they want with you?” he asked, focusing back on her. _What did she really want from him?_

“Not important. What is important is you need help and I need help. I can get you out of these restraints if you can help me get away from Litchfield. Do you think we can make this work?” Suri asked, trying to keep her nerves from showing. It was a now or never moment here.

Riddick lowered his head and stretched his arms out so he got right in her face again. “Are you sure you want to make that deal? How do you know I won’t just ghost you as soon as I’m free?”

The low tone should have been threatening, but Suri got the sensation that he was just testing her. “I don’t, I just have to take that chance,” she said, shrugging, crossing her arms over her chest.

“We can’t leave the ship yet, we’re too early in the flight. The escape skiff won’t make it before the crew gets alerted that we left. Soooo,” he drew the word out and smirked in her face, “Do you really want to let me loose when we’re going to be all alone for several days?”

Suri wanted to smack him. Asshole, trying to scare her like that. She scanned him up and down and lifted an eyebrow, letting him know she didn’t think much his veiled threat. “Since this deal would involve us being alone for a bit anyway, I take that risk anyway, whether I let you go now or right before we rabbit. If you’re a big enough scumbag to rape me or want to kill me, it’s just going to happen. I doubt I could stop you. Somehow I just don’t think I have to worry about that right now.”

He returned her scan, looking her up and down as well before those opaque goggle lenses were back on her eyes. “Haven’t you heard the stories? I’m the baddest motherfucker there is. I’ll skullfuck you and leave you to die jammed in some crate while I take off.”

That was her fear, but Suri couldn’t help but think of how he had saved her before. How he was most likely chained up because he had stayed behind while she had run. She kept her face as blank as possible and shrugged. “I guess I’ll just have to take that risk,” she said calmly.

Riddick’s lips curled up in what would have been a smile on anyone else’s face. “Brave,” he murmured and leaned back until he was sitting on the crate once more. “Fine, if you can get me out of these fucking chains, I’ll get you away from Litchfield. But good luck finding the keys to these locks, Killer.”

It was Suri’s turn to smirk at him. “I don’t need a key, Badass,” she said and turned to search through her knapsack. She was ignoring how much easier it was to breath with him further away, but she could feel his eyes on her, still distrusting, wondering what she was getting from her knapsack. Finally, she located the slim packet and triumphantly pulled it out.

She waved the lock pick set at him, one hand on her hip, sass telegraphed in every single movement. Riddick huffed out a short, dark laugh as she moved behind him once more. “Aren’t you full of surprises?” he murmured.

Suri got up on the crate again and pulled out a few of the tools. She studied the locking mechanism on his wrist and realized it was fairly complicated. She’d also have to lean against him to get in a position to pick the lock. “Brace yourself,” she told him, “I have to use you to get to the lock. Your arms are too long for me to reach otherwise.” He nodded and Suri could feel him brace. Cautiously, she leaned against him, waiting for him to take advantage of her now precarious and somewhat vulnerable position against him. All he had to do was tilt his head to the side and he’d be rubbing against her breast. But he didn’t. _Points to him,_ she thought to herself and got to work on the lock.

Riddick knew just how close he was to being able to feel every inch of her sweet, feminine body against his. Oh, how he wanted to. However, he wanted to be free more, so he held himself still and contained so he wouldn’t scare her off. He did get to enjoy the sensation of skin on skin when she had to shift up a little more to reach the second part of the complicated lock and her shirt rode up, exposing a slice of skin that rubbed against his bare triceps.

After a few minutes and one slip that sent a sharp pick slicing across her wrist as she tried to catch it before it clattered to the floor, eliciting a curse and some blood from Suri, the lock snapped open. Riddick’s arm stayed in position for a moment while Suri moved off him and then dropped to his side. Suri moved to the other arm and Riddick held still once more. Now that she had the hang of the lock system, it went far more quickly.

Suri jumped off the crate and came around to kneel in front of Riddick to study the ankle restraints. She looked up as she heard popping and cracking and saw Riddick was rolling his neck and shoulders, causing those sounds. He twisted suddenly, bending to the side so his face was almost next to hers and his entire spine cracked. He sat back up upright, a rumble of pleasure emanating from him at his more comfortable position now. He raised an eyebrow at her and Suri realized she was staring at him.

She bent her head and got to work. She had to work to ignore the heat radiating off of the big man and the rather provocative position she was in, kneeling between his legs. To help dispel any chance of him misconstruing what she was doing, she bent over further, until her nose was nearly touching his ankles. Suri cursed again as the closely held lock picking tool bit into her sliced wrist, but she held on, needing it to break the lock. She felt something at the nape of her neck and jerked her head up to see Riddick staring intently at her, rubbing the fingers of his right hand together. “Did you just touch my hair?” she asked?

Riddick shrugged. “Why would I do that?”

Suri stared at him for a moment more and then continued her work. “Ha!” she crowed in jubilation as the lock popped free on his second ankle. He kicked his feet out and away from the restraints and stood, towering over the still kneeling Suri. She had to swallow as he once again rolled his shoulders and she had his size and power shoved in her face once more. He was loose. Now she was going to learn if she’d made a mistake in freeing him.

Riddick pushed the goggles up on his forehead and his eyes shone as they held hers. In what seemed to her like slow motion, he reached down and pulled her to her feet, her body just barely brushing his as she rose. Suri felt trapped by that gaze, like a rabbit before a leopard. In that same slow motion, giving her plenty of time to pull away, Riddick slid his hand down from her elbow to her wrist, his strong finger encircling the sensitive skin just below where her glove stopped. Keeping her gaze, he brought her hand up his face and drew her bloodied wrist to his mouth.

Suri gasped at the sudden heat and pressure as he laved the slice along her wrist, soothing the cut with his tongue. Electricity shot through her, and she knew her mouth was open slightly. She could only pray this man couldn’t see her peaked nipples through her bra and tank. Finally, he released her wrist and the trance was broken. Suri scrambled away from him, cradling her arm to her chest. “What was that?” she asked incredulously.

Riddick shrugged, another smooth movement of his muscles. “Helps stop the bleeding. Wouldn’t want you to track blood everywhere, now would we?” he said and his white teeth flashed in a smile as he pulled his goggles back over his eyes. “Now, let’s get moving and see what we can find on this ship,” he said and pushed past her.

Suri watched him saunter away, still hugging her hand to her chest, although it was throbbing for a completely different reason now. What in all that was holy had she gotten herself into? She was in serious trouble and there was nothing she could do about it now. Suri mentally shrugged and followed him through the cargo hold. “Where are you going?” she called out.

“I wanna see the escape skiff this piece of shit transport has before we start deciding what need,” Riddick answered without turning around. Suri had to admit it was a pretty good plan and hurried after him.

Suri stayed out of his way, just observing him as he moved through the ship. He got to the main walkway and took a look around before he took off in a seemingly random direction. Apparently, that one look was enough to tell him the exact layout of the ship, as he led them right to the holding bay where the escape skiffs were located. There were only two, each big enough to hold slightly more than half of the twenty passengers and crew. Suri hadn't even considered taking one of them, as she could barely fly a hover-auto on world, never mind pilot a ship. Riddick looked like he knew what he was doing, however.

He had vanished inside the ship and Suri wandered a little closer, coming underneath an open side entrance. “Do you know how to fly these things? I sure as hell don't,” she found herself saying, wondering where he had gone in the small ship.

There was a small sound behind her and she turned to see Riddick dropping nearly silently beside her. He stood there, just holding her gaze for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah, I can pilot this tin can. You should learn to, as well. You'll never stay hidden if you can't get yourself off planet quickly,” he finally said.

“I'd love to learn,” Suri said and Riddick grunted. “I'm a fast learner,” she added.

Riddick crossed his arms over his chest and just stared at her. Suri thought she was probably supposed to be intimidated, but now that the adrenaline from setting a murderer free had worn off, she was exhausted. Nightmares had kept her from truly sleeping the night before and she couldn't stop a yawn from escaping. Riddick grunted again, although it almost sounded like an aborted laugh to Suri. _He probably wasn't used to people yawning in his face,_ she thought and had to fight back another yawn.

“Alright, we have a few days before we can leave, we might as well get comfortable,” Riddick said, arms still crossed over his chest as he seemed to study her. “I'm going to see if there is a shower or something in the way of a toilet so we don't have to shit in a bucket. You should find a place to rack out. You look like you haven't slept in days and are about to fall over.”

Suri wanted to argue with him, but he was right. They didn't need to stick together every moment they were on this ship and she desperately needed some sleep. While he was occupied studying the ship was probably the best time to do so. She nodded and moved past him to head back to the cargo bay when his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. “Don’t try anything stupid,” he growled at her.

She pulled her arm away from him and glared. “I could say the same to you,” she muttered and stalked away.

Riddick watched her go, enjoying the roll of her pert, round ass with each angry step. It would be a real shame if this turned out to be some sick game and he’d have to ghost her. Speaking of… Riddick turned and started down a different walkway, away from Suri. He needed to find where the weapons were stored, or something he could turn into a shiv. He felt naked without one. He wouldn’t mind if he found a shower along the way, like he’d told Suri.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter might be triggering for some people, as there are references to spousal abuse and rape. Granted, if you're reading Riddick fic, you're probably expecting to come across some horrible stuff. This story will be all that and more. Sorry, my mind is a dark place. But, rest assured, I like punishing bad guys, and so does Riddick!

_Blood. A lot of it. Blood, pain, and laughter. That awful, high pitched, almost childlike laughter that ate at her soul even worse than the pain.  Fingers dug into the slits carved along side her ribs, as if he was trying to open her up. She couldn’t stop herself from screaming, straining against the restraints holding her, trying desperately to get away from the fingers digging into her._

“Hey.”

_She felt reality slipping away and knew she would die if she went under. He was the one screaming now, screaming about turning her into a mermaid. He pulled his fingers from the wounds and was releasing the restraints, intermittently hitting her and caressing her, leaving blood trails on the few sections of skin that weren’t already covered in her blood._

“Hey, Killer.”

_She tried to escape, but she was so weak. He hauled her off the bed, giggling about throwing his mermaid in the pool. She was going to die this time. He’d never been so insane before. Death was dancing before her as her blood drained out of her and the water closed over her head._

“Suri!”

The sharp sound of her own name shot Suri awake and out of her dream, although she was panicked and disoriented. Breathing quickly and shallowly, she pushed herself back until she hit the wall she had laid down next to, looking for the threat. She also couldn’t stop her hands from going to her ribs, searching for the bleeding wounds. Nothing. Those were long healed and the scars were almost faded.

She looked up to see Riddick crouched in front of her, those goggles reflecting her panting face. He was just watching her, one arm over his knee. Seeing him actually helped bring her back down from the dream, steady her. She swiped a hand across her sweaty forehead. “What? What is it? What happened?” she asked, as he continued to stare at her.

“You were screaming,” Riddick said, his voice lower and deeper than normal. “I thought something had happened.”

“Oh.” _Shit, why did I have to have that dream right now?_ “Sorry about that. Everything is fine. Did you find a shower? Toilet?” She sat forward, mimicking his posture.

Everything was not fine if she had dreams that made her scream like that, but if she didn’t want to share right now, Riddick wouldn’t push it. Not yet anyway. He had time to learn her story. “Yeah, I found a fully functioning bathroom near the crew quarters,” he said and stood up.

Suri stood as well. “Do you think you can point me in the right direction?” she asked, trying to hide that her hands were still trembling just slightly.

Riddick just motioned for her to follow him and took off down the walkway. Suri trailed behind him, trying to shake off the last of her dream. It was one of the worst in her repertoire, and one she didn’t get too often. Sometimes she thought she was cursed, the way she was forced to relive some of her most horrific moments night after night.

They arrived at the crew quarters and walked past the sleeping forms in their cryosleep tubes. The silence here was almost eerie, but Suri was growing used to being awake while others slept on these flights. Riddick pointed to the bathroom and Suri slid past him and shut the door tightly.

A shower sounded so tempting. She was grossly sweaty after her nightmare and would love to wash away the metaphysical stench of her dream. Her past. But she knew Riddick was right outside. She flushed the barely usable toilet and opened the door to peek out at Riddick. He raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m going to grab a quick shower; do you want to see if there is anything besides protein waffles to eat?” He continued to just stare at her, so Suri shut the door once more and leaned against it. She really wanted that shower. She started the water and waited a moment to see what would happen.

Suri had a feeling that Riddick was still just outside the door, but he didn’t try to get in. Once again, she had a choice to make and she decided to trust the man others referred to as Big Evil. Suri stripped and stepped quickly into the shower.

The water was lukewarm, but it felt good to wash the sweat from her. There was a tiny sliver of soap, so she soaped up her hands and ran them swiftly over her body. When she reached her ribs, she hesitated and then traced over the thin, barely raised scars that ran along her bones.

Nausea gripped her and she quickly rinsed off. _It’s over, get it together,_ she ordered herself silently and the water off. Normally, she didn’t even notice the scars, they had just become a part of her, like her tattoo and the other scars that littered her body, but her nightmare was too fresh. She dried off quickly and pulled out her lotion.

It seemed foolish, but Suri took a small amount and smoothed it over her ribs. It was a small defiance, useless since she was alone, but it comforted her. She capped the lotion and put it back in the knapsack, bringing out a clean set of underwear and her third shirt, a lightweight, soft blue synthetic cotton material that buttoned up the front. She only had two pairs of trousers, so she put her black cargo trousers back on, but rinsed out her other things and left them to dry. Her gloves, which she had rinsed in the shower as well, but were already dry, went back over her hands, her fingers flexing as the familiar fabric settled into place.

Suri ran her fingers through her hair, pleased that it was already close to dry. Short hair rocked. She’d never go back to waist length hair again. She opened the bathroom door and stopped short when she saw Riddick leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed. “Oh, hey there,” she said, surprised to see him. She had actually forgotten that he might be out here, which wasn’t smart.

“You good?” he asked, pushing off from the wall and stalking toward her.

Those damn goggles still hid his eyes, but Suri knew he was studying her, judging her steadiness. That irritated her. “Just peachy, thanks,” she said shortly, and tried to brush past him to head back to the cargo hold.

His hand shot out, grabbing her arm and stopping her in her tracks. “If we’re going to get through this, I need to know you won’t crumble, Killer,” he said, his low voice vibrating through her.

“It’s Suri, Badass. And I’m fine. It was a nightmare, that’s all. Haven’t you had one before?” she snapped, trying to tug her arm free.

“I’m usually the one causing the nightmares,” Riddick said dryly, releasing her arm.

Suri laughed, caught off guard by his humor. The sound shocked her and even Riddick looked surprised by her laughter. “Oh, wow,” she said when she stopped laughing, “Thanks for that. I haven’t laughed in a really long time.”

“Pity. You’re beautiful when you laugh,” Riddick said bluntly. Suri’s eyes widened and they both held still for a few seconds more before she stepped back, breaking the near trance. She turned and began to walk back to the cargo hold. The entire way back, she was intensely aware of him behind her.

Suri should have felt insulted or nervous about his obvious interest and comments, but she couldn’t ignore the heat that spread through her with each look and touch. The man was dangerous in more ways than one.

As they entered the cargo hold, Suri moved to side, trying to get him out from behind her. He raised an eyebrow at her fairly obvious maneuver, so in an effort to change his focus, Suri asked, “Did you find anything to eat besides the protein waffles?”

In answer, Riddick strode to the crate that held the food and dug in. In short order, he tossed her an energy bar that claimed to be chocolate cherry flavored. Suri unwrapped it and took a bite. _Ugh._ It was basically a bar of sawdust with some sickly sweet cherry flavoring, but at least it was something different. Riddick was crunching on one of the waffles, leaning against the crate, watching her as she gnawed away at the bar.

It was going to be a long three days before they could jump ship if he kept watching her, like a cat with a mouse. “So what’s the plan? What do we need to do to get ready?” she asked, feeling an odd combination of antsy and exhausted. Being in the same vicinity of a Litchfield team, even in cryosleep, with the option to run immediately was messing with her. Riddick wasn’t helping much either.

“Nothing to do right now,” he said with a shrug. “I need sleep and you only got maybe a half hour of shit sleep. We should rest while we can. Tomorrow we’ll start packing and I’ll see where you’re at physically.”

“Excuse me?” Suri exclaimed, somewhat insulted and a little nervous about how he would test her physically. What did he mean by that?

Riddick finished off the waffle and crossed his arms over his massive chest. “You want help staying free of those fuckers, right? Best way to do that is work on your fighting. You probably wouldn’t have needed any help in that alley if you’d been faster. You’ll get faster if I start workin’ you.” He smiled, a coldly amused show of teeth. “Trust me.”

Suri fought the instinct to swallow hard, not wanting Riddick to realize how that simple statement had affected her. It two pronged, some strange mixture of intimidation and arousal at the idea of him working in close quarters with her, and the idea that it was always something. Something she wasn’t doing well enough. She wasn’t fast enough, smart enough, clever enough, pretty enough. It was one of Lucien’s favorite things to throw in her face. She had heard that for so long, it made her want to scream. “Fine,” she ground out after a moment. “That sounds like a good plan.”

Riddick wasn’t sure what had set the woman off, but he could tell she was pissed. Didn’t really matter to him, he just wanted to find a place to sleep before he fell over from exhaustion. His body ached from the beatings and shocks he’d received from the Litchfield men and hanging suspended for multiple hours hadn’t helped. He wasn’t going to show that vulnerability to Suri, however, so it was time to rest and regain his strength. He also had a feeling she wasn’t going to enjoy his plan for their sleeping arrangements.

Suri decided the best bet for her was to ignore Riddick as much as she could for the time being. She set about trying to find a good place to sleep, as her back still ached from trying to lie on the bare floor with no blankets or pillows. There were a couple of nooks in the hold that were designed to hold crates that hadn’t been utilized this trip. Suri thought that she could fit fairly comfortably in one of those and another would probably suit Riddick. She dug through a couple of the crates until she found some with cold weather coats. It wasn’t much, but it would be better than the bare metal of the ship.

She threw a couple on the floor of one of the nooks for Riddick and then layered the floor of the nook she chose for herself with coats, rolling one into a makeshift pillow and putting a long, almost trench coat styled one aside for a blanket. It was too hot in the ship for blankets at the moment, but Suri had quickly learned that ships changed temperature at a moment’s notice, depending on how hard the engines were working to keep them on their flight path, how close they were to suns, and if a comet or asteroid belt was near.

Riddick must have found a button to control the lights in the hold, as it went dark, except for the flashing blue All Clear light, just as she was about to crawl into the nook. She wanted to grumble that not everyone could see as well in the dark as him, but didn’t want to bring his attention back to her if he was focused on sleep. That was probably the safest course of action.

Riddick watched, faintly amused, as Suri worked to build two very separate beds. Ohhh, yes, she was going to be immensely displeased with his sleeping plan. There was absolutely no way he was going to leave himself vulnerable while he slept and she was just going to have to deal with it. He was going to know where she was every single second. Not that he wasn’t preternaturally aware of her as it was. His senses, always wildly acute, were even more attuned to her for some reason. He felt every motion she made, every breath she took, like a finger trailing over his skin. It had started in the bar, when she had brushed past his table to get to the back. Her scent had hit him and he had instantly been alert, interested in more. Lavender, woman, spice, and a hint of old fear and blood over a new confidence… Riddick had been hooked. He wanted just a little taste more. Since she had set him free, that awareness of her, that desire to have her scent near him had only intensified. It irritated him just as much as it intrigued him. He didn’t like feeling this way, it was why he had always eschewed drugs. _Why her? What was happening?_ He wanted answers, his beast inside just wanted more.

Sleep, however, was more important than anything else at the moment. He needed to lie down before he fell down, something else that pissed him off. Riddick waited until Suri was nearly done and flicked off the lights, smirking slightly as he felt Suri’s tension rise. “Don’t get too comfy yet,” he warned her, and saw her freeze as he pushed his goggles up on his forehead. His world exploded into one of ultraviolet, letting him see what others couldn’t in the dark. Suri was perfectly highlighted in violets, lavenders, and a hot magenta as she was caught in an awkward position, one knee already on the makeshift bed.

“Why?” Suri asked, cautiously, turning her head towards where she knew Riddick was. She could see the shine of his eyes in the flashing blue light that was left, but even without it, she would have known. Some elemental part of her knew to be aware of him. Not afraid, not really, just aware. However, she wondered if that had been a mistake, if she was about to find out just how tough she really was. _If Riddick tried something, could she stop him?_

“I’m not going to wake up with a knife in my spine. We’re sharing the same bed, and I get the back. End of argument,” he stated, his growled words hard and finite.

Suri knew there was little she could do to stop Riddick, but she’d only ever shared her sleeping space with one other man and nothing but pain had come from that. She fingered the hilt of the blade she kept at her hip and hissed at him, “If you think just because we’re alone here, because you’re bigger than me, I won’t fight you, you’re wrong. I’ll fight you every inch of the way, I won’t ever submit to that again.” Old memories and fear tried to claw their way up her throat, but Suri did her best to swallow them down, to concentrate on this moment, not the past. It was so dangerous to get distracted around Riddick.

 _Interesting_. Riddick tilted his head, considering his options. He never liked giving a reason to dull someone’s fear of him, but he was legitimately tired, something he liked even less. “Think about the stories you heard about me,” he said to her, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “Sure, there’s a lot of blood in those stories, lot of pain. Any rape?” he asked her and Suri had a feeling he was scowling at her.

Suri thought back and had to admit that as violent as all of the bloodsoaked tales were, the only mention of rape had been skullfucking, which she thought was just mercs trying to scare each other. “No,” she answered him slowly, her fingers still stroking the hilt of her blade.

“I don’t force women,” he whispered in her ear and Suri nearly shrieked in surprise. While she’d been thinking, he’d managed to get across the room and right next to her without her even noticing. “Never have, never will. I’ll gut you and use your insides to hang you in an instant if you try anything, but I won’t do that,” he finished, keeping his voice even, the threat and reassurance twining together in a disconcerting combination.

Suri hesitated a moment more and then sighed. This was one of those moments like when she had to decide about whether to let him out of the chains or not. She had to trust him, as much as it went against her grain. “Okay,” she said, and before the word had finished, Riddick had grabbed her wrists, wrapping his arms around her, and let his body fall, rolling into the small alcove, taking her with him.

Blind panic assailed her the moment the steel bands of his arms surrounded her and she felt herself falling through the air. As she hit the makeshift mattress, she began to struggle, twisting her body as much as could, kicking out with her legs, trying with all of her might to loosen his hold, to stop whatever was coming next. Her struggles ceased, despite her best efforts when his arms tightened around her, squeezing the air from her lungs, and he threw one heavy leg over hers, stopping her desperate kicking. “Stop,” he growled, low and deadly in her ear, stilling Suri instantly. Even if she had been able to move, she wasn’t sure she would have continued after that single word. She felt like a mouse before a cobra, death coiled all around her, waiting for just one wrong move. Silence reigned for a moment and then he sighed, half a dark, rumbling laugh escaping him. “Better. Don’t be stupid, I just want to sleep. I told you I wasn’t going to rape you,” he murmured, the deep tone of his voice vibrating through her whole body, making her shiver. He did laugh then, a single ripple of black humor that nearly made Suri gasp. “Besides,” he murmured silkily, nuzzling ever so slightly at the soft skin below her ear, “I wouldn’t have to force you. Not if I really wanted to,” he finished, inhaling the sweet scent of lavender and woman.

Suri let out her own growl, ramming her elbow back with as much force as she could. He barely grunted and just laughed once more, to her disappointment. “Beast,” she muttered, holding herself still again, refusing him the entertainment of her struggles. She was so furious with his disgusting assumptions she didn’t have room to be scared in that moment. Suri refused to consider any elemental attraction she might have to the big warrior of a man. Absolutely not.

Riddick smirked to himself when he felt the anger burn through the fear in the woman. Anger would tire quickly, while fear would keep her exhausted and weak. “You’re the one who let me out of my chains, Killer,” he reminded her, delighting in her irritated grumble. “Now go to sleep,” he commanded, and shut his eyes.

Suri stewed a few moments more, trying to ignore the way she was practically entwined with him, caged in his arms and between his legs. _He was so damn heavy…_ She shrugged, trying to relieve some of the pressure, but it was impossible. She’d never be able to sleep like this. She twisted again, trying to subtly move her leg out from under him, anything to shift the weight, to not feel as if she were completely and irrevocably trapped.

She continued to squirm and move around until Riddick thought he was going to explode. “Stop. Moving,” he growled through clenched teeth. He just wanted to sleep and she kept rubbing her sweet little body against him in the most subtle ways, driving him insane with each little brush and bump.

“I can’t sleep like this,” Suri gritted out, tears of frustration burning at her eyes. “You’re too close, too heavy.” She hated admitting it to him, giving him something to use against her, but she didn’t see a way around it.

“Deal with it,” Riddick replied, but he felt the tension singing through her, remembered the screaming from whatever nightmare had plagued her. He remembered the feel of her hands massaging away the pain from the strap keeping the bit in his mouth. She’d taken a chance on him… he wouldn’t be that stupid, but it wouldn’t kill him to give her a little more space. Besides, she was currently putting the arm under her body to sleep the way she was lying on it and he didn’t need a useless arm.

Without warning, he shifted, moving the arm under her up further until it was under her head. At the same time, he put a few inches between them, moving his leg off of hers. He kept one hand wrapped around her delicate wrist, but he loosened his hold, so he would know if she tried to reach for something, but he was no longer bruising her skin. “Try anything and I’ll snap your neck,” he warned before resolutely closing his eyes.

Suri waited for the other shoe to drop and when it didn’t come, she let out the breath she was holding. “Sweet dreams, Badass,” she murmured, shifting one last time, letting her cheek rest on the impossibly hard and warm forearm pillowing her head. She heard Riddick huff in amusement just as she forced herself to shut off her mind and try to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is another uncomfortable chapter, where we learn more of Suri's past, and some of Riddick's for a change. References to abuse, attempted sexual assault, and animal cruelty. Sorry, guys.

_She was back in Hell. He was still laughing and screaming as he lifted her over his head and threw her into the pool. Water filled her mouth, flooding down her throat, choking her, killing her as surely as the blood loss from the slices along her ribs._

_Abruptly, the scene changed. She was still drowning, still dying, but it wasn’t just her and the monster in the room anymore. Above the manic laughter was a child screaming, a young boy. She knew this was wrong, this wasn’t the way it went, but it didn’t stop the dreams from merging. Her eyes opened, and through the bloodied water she saw the young, dusky skinned boy struggling against another, older boy. The older one was laughing at he worked to subdue the starved looking, dark haired, dark eyed child, tearing at his clothing._

_She couldn’t let that happen, even if she was dying, she couldn’t let that happen to the boy. She began to fight against the blood loss, the pain, the drowning, struggling through water towards the pair. Hands grabbed at her, pulling her back, and she tore against that as well, desperate to get to the child. Just as her vision started going black on the edges, the child screamed again, full of rage. She saw a knife in his hand he buried it in the chest of the older boy, stabbing him over and over again. The older boy fell, blood pooling around him and the child holding the knife looked towards her, streaks of blood covering his face and arms. His eyes flashed with iridescence as they met hers._

Suri ripped herself out of the dream, trying to throw herself away from the large, heavily muscled man who radiated rage behind her. She was brought up short by their joined fingers. Her glove was off. He was holding her bare hand. Panic ate at Suri as she realized what she was staring at. Sometime in the night, his hold on her wrist had changed, her glove had slipped somehow, and now he held on so tightly she thought her fingers would break. Suri stared at Riddick’s furious face, his shining eyes hot on her face as he bared his teeth in a feral growl.

“What. The fuck. Was that?” he bit out, panting slightly from his own nightmarish images. _What had that shit been? Who had been that guy slamming Suri around, drowning her in bloodstained water?_ Riddick wanted answers, and he wanted them immediately. If she had gotten in his mind, they were going to have a serious fucking problem.

Suri stared at their intertwined fingers in horror and then back up at the convicted killer’s enraged face. _Oh, Seven Suns of Hades…_ “You were that boy,” she breathed, still soaked in the images from the nightmare as she tried to rip her hand from his. Riddick growled, clenching his hand and stopping any chance she had of getting her hand free from his. His rage and the old emotions from the dreams flooded across the connection, muddling Suri’s mind, making it hard for her to think, to protect herself. She had to fix this, she had to stop it, or she was going to get a knife in the throat. “You have to let go,” she choked out as the anger boiled through her, not her own but poisoning her thoughts all the same. “Please, just change your hold, grab my wrist, arm, something. Just let go of my hand,” she forced herself to say, almost begging him. _Where the fuck was her glove?_

Riddick rumbled out another growl, his eyes still intent on her, but his fingers loosened, one by one, before he changed the hold, grabbing her wrist in a punishing grip. The reprieve from the intense flood of emotions and images was instant and Suri almost collapsed with relief. That proved to be a mistake, as Riddick took advantage of her distraction to haul her back towards him, so close their noses were almost touching. “What. Was. That?” he demanded once more. “What did you do to me?”

“I didn’t do _anything_!” Suri cried, trying to pull away, which proved useless. “If anything, you invaded me!” There was another growl and Suri sucked in a breath. She was only moments from death. Again. “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. My… my mother was… was an Elemental. I’m…” she drew in another shaky breath. This was the really hard part. “I’m psychic. Sort of. Touch telepathic, I can sense emotions and share images when I touch people. That’s why I wear the gloves. It must have worked itself off because of how you were holding me. Something. I don’t know! You held my hand. Started a connection. I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry,” she rushed out and then flinched, waiting for the blow to land.

It didn’t come and she looked up at him, confused. Riddick was still staring at her with those iridescent eyes that made it so hard to read him. “What did you see?” he asked, his voice carefully blank.

_Oh, shit._ “I saw… I saw you, probably around ten or twelve. With another, older boy. He was… hurting you, trying to-”

“Stop.” Suri flinched at the command, just a flicker of her eyelids instead of her whole body this time, but she knew Riddick had seen that as well. His cheek was twitching, his jaw clenched, but she wasn’t as concerned that he was going to kill her. Rage was still there in him, but it was changing, not as focused at her.

“You stopped him. You killed him, so he couldn’t. Not to anyone,” Suri continued softly, knowing she was pressing her luck,  but wanting him to know she’d seen that as well. For some reason that mattered to her.

Riddick tilted his head, studying her closely now. “Yes,” he said, the word drawn out as he considered her. Like a snake striking, his free hand whipped out, yanking her shirt up and exposing her rib cage. Suri let out a short shriek, trying to pull back as his fingers traced over her skin, running along the faint scars left along her ribs. “So this is true, as well. Who cut you? Who tried to kill you?” he asked, his voice as low and deadly as before, but Suri didn’t feel threatened this time. She was just angry that he had seen, that he had touched.

“Not your concern,” she whispered, and lashed out with her leg, intending to catch him in the torso, and loosen his hold.

He grabbed her leg and Suri found herself slammed down onto their makeshift bed, Riddick’s heavy weight on top of her, stopping any struggles. “Answer me,” he said, his face just millimeters from hers once more. His hand was still on her side, still lightly tracing the scars.

Suri slapped his hand away from her side, glaring up at him. He kept her gaze, his fingers tapping against the scars. “Lucien did it,” she finally admitted on a muttered breath, her eyes sliding away from him to stare out in the darkness of the cargo room.

“Litchfield?” the surprise in his voice brought Suri’s eyes back to him and she saw his brows draw together as he considered this. “Why was he trying to kill you?”

Suri huffed out a breath that was almost a growl. Her entire body was tight with tension beneath Riddick’s and it was so much more frustrating to know that there was absolutely nothing she could do. She didn’t want to do this, she didn’t want to divulge her secrets, but her hand had been forced, somewhat literally. “He wasn’t trying to kill me,” she muttered, “At least according to him. Lucien goes mad sometimes and this time he thought he was a god and he wanted to create a mermaid. So he cut ‘gills’ into me and threw me in the pool,” she said bluntly. Silence reigned, and Suri sank into that quiet, hoping that would be the end of it. The only indication that Riddick had even heard her was a slight twitch of the fingers that rested against her scars.

Riddick fought to hold himself completely still above Suri as he absorbed what she had just hurled at him. What sort of madness could led to abuse like that? How had she survived? What he had seen, it looked as if she were seconds away from death in the pool, even as she fought to get to the little boy. “Litchfield is known for his business empire and his fighting cages. How did he end up with you?” he finally settled on asking. The more he knew about her past, the better he could judge the danger level of being involved with her, however briefly it was.

Bitterness edged the laugh that came from her. “The oldest way,” she whispered, her eyes locked on his. “I’m his wife.”

“His wife.” The words were said flatly with no inflection to indict his feelings either way, although his fingers were tracing her scars lightly again, making her shiver at the surprisingly delicate touch. Suri nodded, not sure what else to say. She felt laid bare before him and it was not a comfortable feeling, especially with his weight and power stretched on top of her.

Riddick let the silence flow around them for a few minutes while he contemplated the situation. Litchfield and his cages were familiar to him, he’d seen some of the legal fights and heard rumblings about the illegal ones, the real money makers, but he was more interested in avoiding people than seeing a no rules cage fight. Litchfield was known as a shrewd and vicious business man, taking business and empires in single meetings on occasion. His business empire was spreading across the ‘verse in a way not seen in a long time. It was whispered that he seemed to have unnatural knowledge of those around him. Riddick figured he just found out how Litchfield had been able to have all of that knowledge.

“Yes, he made me read the people around us,” Suri said and Riddick shot her a sharp look. Suri rolled her eyes, glaring at him. “No, I didn’t read you mind, it was just painfully obvious what you were thinking. Your next thought is also correct - he’s not going to let me go easily.”

Riddick smirked. He liked her spine, her spunk. This woman had been sliced open, beaten, drowned, trapped in madness, and now had one of the ‘verse’s baddest killers above her, yet she still wasn’t cowed. “How did you get away?” he asked, hoping for a little more insight into how this intriguing woman.

Suri shrugged, too aware of her vulnerable position. “Will you let me up if I tell you?” she countered. She wanted space between the two of them, she wanted his hand off of her bare skin, she wanted the security of two gloved hands. It was all too much.

Riddick didn’t want to make any verbal promises, so he just grunted, hoping she’d take it as agreement. He didn’t like to give up anything he enjoyed and he was greatly enjoying how she felt beneath him.

“I faked my death,” Suri said quietly. She knew he wasn’t going to let her go easily, but she found that once she had started telling her story, it was getting harder to stop. This is why she had kept her mouth shut so often in Lucien’s halls, she wouldn’t stop once she started. “I had been trapped in that Hell for over a decade and I. Could. Not. Take it. Not anymore,” she continued, unaware that her hands had stopped pushing at Riddick’s chest and were now clenching and unclenching in the fabric of his ancient tank as memories assailed her. “I waited and waited for my chance. I was almost never allowed out without Lucien right by my side. I finally managed to slip out during a doctor’s appointment. I never thought I’d be grateful for a broken collarbone,” she said with a bitter laugh. “I made it look like the hover-auto I stole crashed. Made the fire hot enough that it would make sense that my body burned to the point that there was nothing but ash.”

Suri stopped her flow of words and forced herself to draw in a breath. She realized she had fisted her hands around the fabric of his tank and slowly relaxed her hands, smoothing the fabric back down over his muscular chest, careful not to touch bare skin. “Sorry,” she whispered, almost unconsciously. For the first time since she had started speaking, her eyes left his, following her fingers as she brushed the fabric that was so warm from his skin. As she did, she noticed something strange beneath his shirt. It appeared as if something was glowing above his heart. Curious, unthinking, she reached for the collar of his tank with her still gloved hand, beginning to pull it down to see what it was.

Riddick’s hand closed over hers, completely engulfing her hand and stopping her from revealing whatever was under his shirt. “Don’t,” he said, his low voice rumbling through her, bringing her eyes back to his. “Not unless you want to take this to the next level,” he warned her, using a subtle roll of his hips to remind her of just who was on top, in more than one way.

Suri’s eyes went wide as his groin pressed against hers, as close as two people could be while wearing clothes. Fear and something else twisted in her stomach and Suri tense, ready to fight in an instant. “I thought you said you wouldn’t force me,” she ground out, an unbidden sense of betrayal weaving into her tone.

Riddick smirked at her words. “I also said I wouldn’t have to. Your choice, Killer,” he murmured, staying completely still after that first roll. He refused to admit there was a sense of relief when her fingers loosened and she let go of his tank. There was definitely a sense of disappointment that she wouldn’t push it further, give him an excuse.

“Fine. Keep your secrets. I told you my story, now will you get off me?” Suri bit out, looking away from him.

“No.”

Furious, Suri whipped her head back to stare him down. “Let. Me. Up,” she demanded.

Riddick raised an eyebrow, impressed that she still had so much fight in her. “If you did such a good job faking your death, why is Litchfield still hunting you?” he asked instead of answering her demand.

Suri sighed, shifting as much as she could while still trapped beneath his weight. Although, he had braced his forearms on either side of her, so she wasn’t crushed beneath him. The convicted killer was a fascinating mixture of contradictions, with his combination of threat and reassurance, confining her yet making sure she wasn’t hurt, and Suri didn’t quite know what to do with him. What she did know was that she felt safer even underneath him than she had felt on any part of Lucien’s compound. “I messed up,” she found herself admitting. “I bounced around in the lower rent areas, trying to move from planet to planet without much notice. I thought I’d be safe there, that no one that ran in Lucien’s circles would be there.” She shook her head, self recrimination flashing across her face. “So stupid. Where did I think people would go to steal slaves and recruit people desperate enough to fight in the cages? I bumped into one of Lucien’s business associates and he recognized my eyes. Been running for my life ever since.” Suri was embarrassed to admit her foolishness, but Riddick didn’t laugh at her or scoff. He merely nodded and Suri once again felt the pressure of his fingers against her side, stroking lightly. It was a strange, almost soothing gesture.

She started to push away his hand, her arm brushing against the bunched muscles of his chest as she pushed against his huge bicep, unused to any touch that delicate. It unsettled her in ways she wasn’t ready to examine. “What was your breaking point?” His question threw her, and the pressure of her hand stopped, gloved fingers curling around his bicep instead of trying to move him.

“What?” Suri looked up at Riddick, unsure of what he meant, of where he was going with his questions.

Riddick stared back her, his eyes calm pools of iridescence in the near darkness, centering her. “You were with Litchfield for ten years, you can’t tell me there weren’t other moments where escape might have been possible. So what happened to change you, what broke the chain for you?” he asked, still studying her face, even as he registered how her body changed beneath him, relaxing and tensing again.

Suri felt chastised, as if he were questioning her desire to escape the abuse, the sheer Hell she had been forced into. Shame and anger sent flags of red burning across her cheeks and she glared up at the big man. “I’m not you,” she muttered, “I wasn’t lucky enough to get educated in escaping slams. I was a possession, a thing to be bought and sold from the moment my mother died! My father never wanted a freak for a daughter, he wanted the money an oddity like me would bring. Lucien might have been the one to pay to credits, but I never lived without bars of some sort. When you’ve been caged your whole life, it’s hard to realize how to escape.” She wanted to say more, defend herself, explain how demoralizing the constant barrage of emotional and physical abuse was, but she forced herself to shut her mouth, pressing her lips in a tight line.

Riddick wondered if Suri realized how interesting it was to him that she would fight against him, someone who made the baddest mercs in the ‘verse shake in their boots, when she had just revealed she’d been groomed to be docile, to be owned, her entire life. There was a spark in her he recognized, he appreciated. He always admired a fighter, whatever their form. “So what changed that?” he pressed again, surprised by how interested he was in her answer. At some point, this had changed from fact gathering to weigh how interested he was in sticking to their deal, to learning her story, discovering who she was. He could always use more information to his advantage, he told himself.

“He killed a dog.”

The whispered words hit him like a fist to the gut. This woman had reached her breaking point because of a dog? “What?” he asked, incredulously, staring her down to see if she was mocking him. For a moment, he thought she had seen something from the last world he’d been abandoned on, seen his only companion or how the jackal had died.

Suri winced at his growled word. He must think she was an idiot. “He thought I flirted with a guard. Lucien has a serious paranoia about cheating. I can’t tell you how many times I got beaten for a smile or a look he thought he saw, the crazy bastard.” Suri stopped, gritting her teeth as she remembered. “This time… this,” she swallowed, and Riddick saw tears shine in her eyes. “I had learned to never interact with people, not that I really wanted to. Animals were safe, however. The guard dogs weren’t that bad, they weren’t mean, you just had to be slow and gentle. The dogs liked me. I didn’t think it was a problem,” she said, her voice a bare whisper. “Lucien backhanded me, and the dog growled. That’s all, just a soft growl. Lucien lost it. He went after the dog with his metal walking stick. I tried to stop him and ended up with a broken rib and a concussion. When I came to, he had hung the dog.” Suri curled the fingers of her bare right hand into a fist, remembering what Lucien had done to her while that poor dog had died. “I knew in that moment I was getting out, even if it was in a bodybag. Took me two months, but I did it. He thought I was so cowed at that point that I’d never try anything. I wish I could have seen his face when he heard the car I escaped in crashed. I bet he was so dumbfounded,” she said with vicious enjoyment.

Suri shook herself out of her memories and stared up at Riddick. His face had blanked once more, but the hand on her side twitched. “So now you know my story,” she said with a fierce, toothy grin, “Wanna tell me yours?”

Riddick laughed darkly. “Not likely,” he rumbled and finally rolled to the side, no longer trapping her beneath his weight. He still wrapped an arm around her waist, making her grumble in irritation, although he didn’t trap her legs again. “Go to sleep, we still have a couple hours,” he told her, handing her the missing glove that he had spotted near her head shortly after slamming her down.

Riddick tried to force his body to relax as Suri shifted against him, tried to calm the storm of his thoughts whirling through his mind. Suri’s voice broke through once more as she quietly said his name. “What?” he answered, opening his eyes again.

“I’ll understand if you just drop me on world and take off. You don’t have to stick around and teach me. If you were ever going to,” she ended on a mutter as she finished tugging her glove into place.

Riddick grunted, irritated with her suggestion that he’d break his word because her asshole husband was too much to handle. He thought of what he’d seen in the dream, the scars on her side, and the tears when she had talked about the dog. He remembered her gentle hands rubbing his head after taking the tight bit off. He thought about everything he had heard about Lucien Litchfield. “I keep my promises,” he told her flatly, “I’ll teach you how to hide, survive, and fight. I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” _And then I’ll find Litchfield and I’ll kill him_ , he finished silently.

Suri relaxed slightly, but Riddick could feel she had something else to say. He waited, and his patience was rewarded when she asked quietly, “Will you teach me to kill him?”

Riddick grinned and shifted his head, ducking closer to Suri and taking in a deep breath of her lavender scented hair. “Sweetheart, I’ll teach you how to bury your knife in his fucking eye,” he assured her in a smug tone.

Suri relaxed back against him. “Good,” she murmured.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this, I hope it lives up to expectations. Oh, and it borders on NSFW, just so you know!

“Rise and shine, Killer. We got work to do,” Riddick’s gravelly voice shook Suri from her dreamless sleep and she blinked open her eyes to see Riddick crouched in front of her, goggles back over his eyes in deference to the lights he’d turned back on. Suri was shocked that he’d been able to get out from behind her without waking her. She’d always thought she was a light sleeper, but Riddick had proven her wrong twice now.

“What work? What do you mean?” Suri asked, struggling to throw off the last vestiges of sleep. She had been so exhausted after pulling Riddick’s dreams into hers, and then sharing her story that she had dropped into a deeper slumber than usual. She sat up and blinked again at the big man in front of her.

“Told you I’m gonna work you out, see your weak spots, find your strengths,” Riddick rumbled, reaching a hand out to grasp her upper arm, pulling her out of the sleeping cove.

Oh, right. Riddick had told her that. Still, a more pressing need made itself known. “Right, sure. Just give me a minute,” she murmured, allowing herself to be pulled out and then standing on her own. She stretched, bending backwards as she yawned. She opened her eyes to see Riddick slowly rising up, eyes locked on her as he did. She could feel the heat of his gaze running over her despite the blacked out lenses.

“You get attacked, they aren’t going to give you a minute. Let’s go. Now,” he growled, reaching for her once again.

Suri slid away from his reaching hand with the ease of years of practice, narrowing her eyes at him. “Well aware. And while I appreciate what you’re doing, I’m not being ambushed and manhandled currently. So unless you want me to piss on you mid-lesson, maybe you could just hang tight while I take care of some things,” Suri said calmly.

There was a brief second where she thought a smile flickered across his face before he blanked his face once again. “Fine. But you’ll have to learn eventually,” he told her.

Suri had already turned and was walking towards the section of the ship containing the bathroom. “Sounds good,” she acknowledged over her shoulder.

Riddick’s eyebrows rose and he crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the slim woman walk nonchalantly away from him. Him! Riddick B. Riddick, baddest man in the ‘verse. His lips twitched and he smiled to himself as he watched the sway of her hips as she strolled away. Woman had spine and there was nothing he admired more than that. Even a very fine ass.

~*~

Suri let out a huge breath the moment she shut the bathroom door. She was getting more comfortable with asserting herself after years of playing the dutiful, submissive wife, but it was a serious challenge when it came to facing down Riddick. The man exuded menace and command like a second skin. Yet, Suri still didn’t feel directly threatened by him. It was an interesting contradiction to mull over.

As she took care of the necessary morning rituals, Suri found she was grateful that he was apparently going to leave what had happened in the night alone. With the lights on and the adrenaline from the dreams faded, it was not what she wanted to deal with at the moment.

Suri splashed water on her face and blew out another sigh. _Enough stalling, you have to go out there and face whatever test Riddick is going to give you_ , she told herself. Suri wiped her face on the hem of her shirt, slid her gloves back on, and opened the bathroom door.

There was a blur of movement and Suri took in the sight of the homemade, curved edge of a blade coming at her, slashing at her throat in a smooth motion. She reacted instantly, throwing herself to the side, one fisted arm coming up to provide a block for her vulnerable throat. The knife stopped a millimeter from where her throat had been. Suri caught herself up against the wall of the small room, but she couldn’t see much more than the blade and dark golden hand holding it. She ducked and rolled, coming up in a crouch, the knife that had been tucked in her waistband now held in her hand, facing the exit that was blocked by the huge form of Riddick, his face as blank and hard as the lenses of his goggles.

They stared at each other, Suri tense and waiting for whatever the next move was, Riddick as still as a statue, although Suri could feel his assessing gaze. “You’re fast,” Riddick finally said, pulling the arm holding his homemade shiv back, a small smile ghosting across his face. “Good instincts too,” he continued, his stance relaxing, “That makes things easier.” He stood to one side and motioned for her to pass, an easy smile curling his lips, almost seeming friendly.

Suri was instantly suspicious. “So this was just a test? Not a punishment for using the bathroom?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him as she slowly rose to her feet, although she didn’t loosen her hold on her knife.

There was a millisecond of stillness from Riddick, as if he had tensed again, although Suri didn’t see any movement in his muscles to signal it. “Just a test,” he said, and Suri moved to pass him. Arms as hard as steel beams closed around her, trapping her tightly against a chest that might as well have been granite. The shiv was pressed against her throat, tipping her head back so that she was leaning back against him, her head tucked against his throat.

“Still a test?” Suri asked in a whisper, her mind racing for how to get out of his hold. The blade was so sharp against her neck and his hold trapped her knife tightly against her side, useless to use quickly.

“If it wasn’t, you’d be pretty fucked right about now,” Riddick murmured, the low timbre of his voice sending vibrations through her body, making Suri shiver. “But first...” Riddick paused and ducked his head, rubbing his cheek against the top of her head like a cat. The motion was designed to throw her off, make her uneasy, Suri knew this, but it didn’t stop her indrawn breath. Or the pooling of warmth in her lower stomach, which confused her as much as it frustrated her. “First I wanna hear why you think I’d punish you for using the bathroom,” he finished, leaving his chin on the top of her head.

Riddick’s heat almost completely surrounded Suri, his hold nearly an embrace, and yet a sliver of ice still shot through her at his question. “You are used to being obeyed and you’re completely alpha in nature. You wanted me to practice immediately. It makes sense that a delay and disobedience would… anger you,” she said, her voice just as quiet as his, without any inflection, which Riddick found just as telling as if she had trembled with emotion.

Riddick let out a huff of breath. “Makin’ a couple assumptions about me,” he told her, focusing on that instead of the rage coalescing inside him at the idea of someone being ‘punished’ for something so basic as toiletry needs. Few things set off that cold, calculating, murderous anger like someone hurting those weaker. However, he had to shove that aside for now. “First, it’s shockingly rare how often my suggestions are actually followed,” he murmured, “Even when I make it really, really easy for people. Second, gettin’ angry over needin’ to piss is about the stupidest thing I’ve heard in an extremely long time.” He grunted, clearly disgusted with whoever had been that controlling.

It was so ridiculous that Suri couldn’t stop a small laugh. How strange that someone who built a reputation on violence and ruthlessness thought it was idiotic to get angry about something that had once caused a respected businessman to throw her into a wall. The difference between the two men could not be starker. That difference was also why she was tense, poised to make a move as soon as one presented itself, but she was not afraid, despite the sharp blade against her throat and the steel arms around her.

Suri drew in as deep a breath as possible with the razor sharp edge of the shiv against her throat. “Sooo… with that settled are you going to get that blade off my neck?” she asked, putting as much bravado as possible in her question.

She felt him shake his head, his chin just grazing the top of her head. “No, you’re going to show me how you’d get out of this,” he rumbled, his muscles as hard as stone around her.

Suri immediately wanted to pick up her knees to throw off his balance, but the blade would almost definitely slice her throat. Instead, she went as limp as she could before throwing herself backwards, hitting the hard wall of his chest. She would have slammed into his jaw with her head, but he jerked back with her, taking a step back to stabilize the two of them.

“Good,” Riddick purred into her ear. “That would have worked with most people, although you run the risk of getting cut.”

Suri was frustrated that the shiv was still at her throat. She’d had good success with that move before. “If you’re around blades, you’re going to get cut,” Suri bit out. “Either you get over that fear or you die.”

Riddick made a small, choked sound, as if he were holding back a laugh. “Good point,” he murmured and released her, stepping back from her and tucking the shiv away as he continued to eye her, assessing her every movement and breath.

Suri had to steady her knees and hoped that her momentary weakness wasn’t noticed by his eagle eyes. The surprise at her sudden freedom and the loss of his heat was shocking and Suri felt oddly bereft as he backed away from her. She returned his stare with one of his own, watching him to see what his next act would be.

“Where did you get the knife from?” Suri finally asked him, curiosity overriding any need to win whatever competition she had unwittingly put herself into by staring Riddick down. _It was pointless, the man with the goggles always won the staring contest_ , she thought, having to control the strange urge to laugh.

Riddick plucked the shiv out from behind his back and tossed it lightly in her direction. She managed to catch it despite the surprise and was irritated by herself when she felt a warm glow of pleasure at his approving expression when she did. She didn’t need approval from anyone, she reminded herself and tucked her head down, dropping his gaze to study the blade. It was very simple, almost primitive in design, and all the more clever for it. Just a hunk of metal that had been sharpened to a wicked curve, with just enough flat metal to easily hold and slash with. “You made this?” she asked, looking back up at the big man, who had crossed his arms over his chest again, his gaze always on her. He was always watching, but Suri got the sense that even if his eyes were on her, he missed nothing around them. He nodded and Suri tested the edge of the blade with the skin of her forearm, pressing very lightly. It still sliced, even with the feather light pressure. _Excellent_ blade.

She looked up and saw that Riddick had tensed, looking as if he were about to pounce on her. Suri moved the blade away from her forearm and he relaxed once more. _Interesting_. “When did you make it? How did you find the materials?” she asked, tucking the blade under one arm as she tugged one of her gloves off and ran her fingers across her throat where he had held the knife to her. Nothing… she couldn’t feel even the faintest cut.

Riddick grimaced and Suri got the sense that he was glaring at her as she touched her throat. “If I wanted to cut you, I would have,” he growled, “That point of that was to test you, not hurt you,” he continued, moving to grab her bare hand. He didn’t know why Suri’s very reasonable check for any minor cuts from him bothered him so much, but it made the beast in him dangerously on edge. Almost as if it needed to prove something to her.

Suri dodged him, finding herself once again up against a wall, pressing back as he moved into her space. “Don’t,” she said more harshly than she intended to, shoving her bare hand behind her back. “Don’t touch my hands unless you want me in your head,” she warned when he didn’t back up.

Riddick shoved his goggles up on his forehead, revealing his hard, shining eyes that stared relentlessly down at her as he continued to crowd into her, bracing his hands on either side of her head, his muscular thighs and chest just barely brushing hers. He wanted to keep growling at her, he had an intense urge to grab her hand back and assert his dominance, he wanted… something he couldn’t name, but it was so forceful, he could feel his back teeth grinding as he clenched his jaw, holding himself back. Then, with the ultraviolet vision giving him a more powerful view of her face, he noticed the scarring on her left nostril, exactly opposite where her nose was pierced now. It looked as if something had been torn out. Instantly, he thought of the scarring along her sides, the nightmare he’d been plunged into the night before. It took the edge off his need to dominate, quieting his beast just enough.

One hand settled around her throat, causing a sharp intake of air from her, but his touch was unexpectedly gentle. The rough pad of his thumb caressed the tender skin where his shiv had rested on her racing pulse as he continued to stare into her eyes, eyes he knew were almost as strange as his, with the frosty blue ringing her storm cloud irises. “I’ve got better control than you think,” he told her, his deep voice in what would have been a whisper from anyone else. “I don’t slice without meaning to, and I don’t kill without purpose,” he found himself telling her and wondered if she had somehow found her way into his head without touching him. “You’re going to get bruised, you’re going to be sore, but I’m training you, not beating you,” he grumbled, frustrated that he even felt the need to explain himself. Riddick didn’t explain his actions, people either figured it out or got left in the dark. And yet here he was… explaining himself.

Suri’s eyes were wide, caught off guard by how close he was, how soft his calloused, powerful hand was on her, and by what he was saying. She was also caught off guard by how his thumb stroking her pulse was making her feel. She felt as if she were about to melt and combust at the same time, her knees barely holding her up as she fought to keep her expression blank. “Okay,” she whispered, feeling as if she had to say something, anything to try and break the spell that was wrapping around them. She swallowed, the action causing her throat to push against his hand even more and she had to fight the urge to shift against him. “I believe you,” she continued. She was surprised that she really did believe what he was saying. It was odd to be this close to someone who had so much blood on his hands and not fear him. He sent all of her senses on high alert, but it wasn’t fear that heightened her senses, it was something she couldn’t quite name.

Riddick stilled, as if he hadn’t expected her words. Suri thought she saw something almost like astonishment in his expression. He leaned closer and Suri’s eyes slid shut, her breath trembling to a stop as his hand slid from her throat down to cup her shoulder, his other hand still pressed against the wall next to her head, caging her in, yet she didn’t feel trapped. She felt his cheek brush hers as he ducked his head close to her, inhaling deeply as his nose nudged the hair by her ear. Suri jolted slightly as she felt his lips trail down her neck, just barely touching her skin. A rumbling chuckle vibrated from Riddick through Suri as her involuntary movement had her pressing against his whole body momentarily.

Suri flushed at his dark laugh and lifted her hands, pushing against the bottom of his solid rib cage, forgetting for a moment that she wasn’t wearing a glove on one hand until she felt the heat of his skin through his thin tank. She immediately retracted her hand, pressing back against the cold metal wall, wishing futilely that it would yield. She had a feeling that between the two, the wall was more likely to move than Riddick’s solid form. “Wh-what’s the next move?” Suri asked, trying to sound unaffected and casual, and knowing that she failed miserably.

Riddick hadn’t moved after he chuckled at her involuntary jolt, but she felt his lips curve into a smirk against the ultra-sensitive skin of the column of her throat. “Why don’t you touch me and find out?” he murmured, feeling nearly drunk on Suri’s ethereal, almost spicy scent of lavender and _her_ , that unique smell that was only her, and had the beast in him rumbling in his chest. He had to be drunk to invite her into his mind, but as he realized what he had offered, he found himself curious to see what she would do with his taunting suggestion.

Shock held Suri in stasis for a breath as she absorbed what he had just said. No one, absolutely _no one_ had ever invited her into their mind. Part of her wondered if this was another test, another part of her was intoxicated by the idea of actually being allowed in someone’s mind, not having to slink around like a thief or feel like a violator as she was forced to invade them by Lucien. It would also put her on more equal footing with Riddick for the first time since she had taken the chains off. The heat and power radiating off of his Riddick’s big, muscular body added to her inebriated feeling, and almost of its own volition her bare hand began a slow slide up his cloth covered chest, running her fingers up the band that wrapped over his shoulder. There was the slightest  hesitation as she reached the top of his shirt and then her long, slim fingers brushed the bare skin of his broad shoulder.

Instantly, images and sensations flooded her mind. Bare skin, pale ivory against dark gold, sweat glistening as they rolled together. Teeth nipping, tongues licking up smooth dips and curves, powerful thrusts as moans filled what little space managed to remain between them. Strong hands holding hips as the frenzy built and built until there was no other option but to race toward the inevitable explosion.

Suri gasped, her head tossing back against the wall, as her hand tightened on Riddick’s shoulder, her gloved hand grabbing the fabric of his shirt at his back as she arched against him. He responded by rolling his hips against her, growling against her neck as her breasts rubbed against his chest as she arched. His hand moved from the wall to the base of her spine, his fingers squeezing her ass as he ground against her, caught in the maelstrom he had created by letting her share what was forefront in his head. It was heady and nearly all consuming, and his Beast howled in answer to her low, throaty moan, the scent of her desire. He wanted those images to be reality and he wanted it _now_. Riddick closed his teeth over the delicate lobe of her ear and bit down hard enough to land just on the other side of pain.

_It was amazing, it was like she burning up in the orbit of a sun_ , Suri thought as she shared every moment and sensation with Riddick mentally, the effect increased exponentially by the very real physical contact between them. _It was… too much. No no no no no, not this. Please, no._ Suri’s eyes flew open, her body going rigid and her grip changed from holding to shoving. Her movement was so fast and forceful, and Riddick so distracted that he was actually pushed back a few inches. Suri almost dropped to the floor, the loss of the pressure of his body no longer holding her up against the wall. It was just as jarring a sense of loss as her sudden disconnect from his mind. It _hurt,_ and she was still trembling with all of the desire that had flooded her on top of that.

“I… don’t think that’s going to teach me to survive or kill Litchfield,” Suri forced out, fighting to keep her voice steady, trying to interject a note of nonchalance. It took every bit of her remaining strength to lock her knees and smooth her face as she waited for Riddick’s reaction.

Riddick was shocked. Shocked that he wasn’t still pressed against her, shocked at what felt like a loss in his head from her sudden disappearance, shocked by her sudden reversal and that she had actually managed to push him away. His Beast was roaring at being abruptly deprived of Suri’s scent, the taste of her skin, the feel of her. It was demanding that he push back, slam her against the wall and yank those pants down, make her moan and scream like he knew he could. A rumbling growl built in his chest, ready to burst forth as he tensed to make his move. Then he saw her eyes.

Beneath that calm exterior, Suri’s pupils were blown wide, her irises only two thin rings of blue and grey. For a moment, he thought she was scared of him, and that instant brought up far more complicated feelings than he was used too. Until he realized that she wasn’t looking at him. Oh, her eyes were on him and she had talked to him, but her gaze had that thousand yard stare he’d seen too many times before. She was scared, although doing a fairly good job at hiding it, but it wasn’t fear of him. Suddenly, Riddick wanted to growl, but for a completely different reason than conquest.

He plucked his shiv from the ground where it had fallen when he’d initially lunged at her and tucked it back into the waistband of his pants and stepped back. Suri was still watching him warily, but her eyes had lost that blown out look. “Not today anyway,” he finally replied before turning and walking back towards the cargo hold. “C’mon, Killer, we got work to do,” he called back, without looking to see if she was following.

Suri was frozen for a second by his unexpected actions. Then she moved from the wall, swiftly tugging her glove back into place as she ignored the lingering sensation of Riddick’s bare skin on her fingertips, the heat that still pulsed through her. Just because she’d severed the connection between them didn’t mean she couldn’t still see those images, feel his body on her. She shoved that all down, locking it away to be examined later and followed the big man down the ship’s hallway.


End file.
